


Take My Hand, I Love You.

by aerynthesebacean



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-07
Updated: 2014-10-07
Packaged: 2018-02-19 00:14:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2367146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerynthesebacean/pseuds/aerynthesebacean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Bucky spend Christmas their first Christmas together in the 21st century.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take My Hand, I Love You.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Marvel universe, or the characters within it. But wouldn't that be awesome?

Bucky had spent most of the year with Steve, having moved into their own apartment. Their life had become quiet, The Avengers having not been summoned for, which meant they could just spend time together, time in each others company. The time they had missed all those years ago. In the beginning they slept in separate rooms, with Bucky's nightmares taking hold every night; but as the nightmares faded things became easier, Bucky opened up, and they no longer had a need for the second bed.

The time passed quicker than either of them could keep track of, they lived like they had never been apart, the completed each other, everything made sense when Bucky looked at Steve. Through all the fragments of his memory, the one thing that remained constant was Steve, his unwavering loyalty to Bucky despite what he had done; despite the monster he once was. 

The time passed so quickly it was less than a week until Christmas and only a bit more until the end of the year. Bucky remembered seeing the first Christmas decorations being sold in November, he laughed at the notion. Before there was no way of getting hold of anything remotely Christmassy, most of their Christmases involved a sad looking turkey and a bottle of mulled wine, and that was ten times better than the Christmas he spent in action. His best Christmas involved Steve, unsurprisingly. He wasn't expecting anyone, he just was going to spend Christmas alone with some brandy. But there was a soft knock at the door, and at the door was a tiny, shivering Steve holding a box scruffily wrapped in brown parcel paper.

In that box was a small gift, but Bucky knew that Steve had spent every last cent he had on it, it was a pocket watch, a relatively simple one, but watches weren't cheap, especially for those without work, especially in the crisis that America was in. Steve stayed round and they rummaged through Bucky's cupboards for any food they could eat, the majority of it was tinned, so their plate was rather monotonously coloured, all greys and browns and wholly unappealing. But with Steve there it was the possibly the greatest Christmas he ever had.

Bucky was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't realised the passing of time, he had been standing in the same spot for some time, with a ridiculous half smile on his lips, a smile that the memories conjured. He wanted another Christmas with Steve, a richer one, a deeper one. As good as the Christmas was he wanted to make this year better, the best one. The memory of the pocket watch returned, and he as he patted his left pocket - the pocket he always kept it in - he realised he no longer had it, the smile fell from his lips. He had lost in during the war, the time in the trenches had meant it stopped working, but he kept it anyway. He had never really used it to tell the time, it was just something to remember Steve by. But one day it disappeared, he must have dropped it in the mud, he knew that there was no hope of him ever seeing it again. He sighed heavily, looking at the clock, 2pm. He wanted to go out and buy Steve a present, they had PLENTY of money, but he had no idea what to buy him. He thought Steve had everything, with all the technology around, what else could a person possibly need? He sighed again and pulled out his phone, he was still unsure of all of the buttons on this Apple... whatever. He knew the Messages button and the Call button, but that was it, Steve did explain it to him almost every single day, but he just used it as an excuse to be close to him, to just listen to him talk and watch his lips move, it was no wonder he still didn't get it. He scrolled through the names on his phone until he found Natasha.

"You okay Bucky?" She asked down the phone.  
"Yeah, I just want to buy Christmas presents and... Well... I don't know what to buy." He admitted.  
"You mean you don't know what to buy for Steve." She remarked, he could have sworn he heard the smirk in her voice as she spoke.  
"What? I-" He stuttered. "Yes." Natasha laughed at his response.  
"I'll meet you on the subway." She chuckled before ending the call. Even though the duration of the call was short, a blush had crept up Bucky's neck and onto his cheeks, he shook Natasha's words out of his head and pulled on his leather jacket before leaving the house, wallet in his back pocket.

-

"You took your sweet time didn't you?" Natasha asked, her arms folded in front of her, a smirk on her lips. "Come on, let's get a present for your boyfriend." She laughed to herself, turning around to walk away.  
"He's not my!- Oh." He shouted from behind her, realising his mistake after. Steve kinda _was_ his boyfriend. Their first kiss after that heated Mario Kart game broke down the walls they had built around themselves, and all their true feelings came tumbling out, after that they never looked back. Although everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D did always call them the 'lovebirds', even more so than Romanoff and Barton. At first Bucky would just quietly huff about it, but then when Steve put his strong arm over his shoulders, it didn't bother him anymore. 

Together they arrived at the mall, the two conversing easily in Russian on the train, which got them various worried glances from other passengers. There were plenty of people at the mall, all doing the exact same thing as Bucky and Natasha. In several shops he was asked if he was buying a present for his 'girlfriend', which they had to awkwardly clear up that there was no attachment there. The worst one being in the jewellery store, all the people working in the store kept trying to direct them to engagement rings, and each time a new worker came, they had to explain their situation all over again. But Bucky was set on finding a pocket watch, he knew it was an impossibility to try and find the same one, or even a similar one, but he wanted to try. Whilst he was looking around the watches, Natasha instead began to push him towards rings. She guided him to a glass case filled with various silver bands.

"I think Steve would like one of these, you two have been holding out for almost seventy years, you're gonna have to propose at some point." She laughed. Bucky's eyes widened and he shushed Natasha, hitting her gently with his real arm, only causing her more amusement. But the more he thought about it, the more appealing the idea became. He loved Steve, he really did. But he wasn't sure if that's what Steve wanted. 

"What if he says no?" He asked tentatively.

"I don't think he would, you don't hear the way he talks about you when you're not around, or _how_ much he talks about you. It's ridiculous." Natasha told him. A small smile started to form on his lips. "And if it's anything else he loves you, I don't think I've seen anyone as in love as you two are." She added. "So what do you think?"

"Which one do I get?" 

-

Christmas came around faster than Bucky even noticed, surprising him as he was felt ill with nerves about his present. Questions swam about in his head, was he making the right decision? Did Natasha set him up as a joke? Did Steve really love him? Nothing was clear. 

But Christmas was finally here. He had spent most of the morning awake, thinking about how close he was to finally doing this. He was going to _propose_. Steve continued to sleep, his muscular arms wrapped around him, hearing his steady breaths soothed him, as well as him warm chest pressing against his back. But he was still restless, how on earth could he go back to sleep when that ring was sitting in a box with a heavy question weighed on his lips? He just couldn't. 

Steve stirred behind him, he felt his chin brush his shoulder, and he murmured, almost inaudibly. 

"Buck, you awake?" 

"Yeah," 

"Good, it's Christmas." As he spoke he pressed a gentle kiss to his shoulder. "I really want to give you your present." He added, along with another kiss. Bucky shivered at the touch of his lips and the terrible sick feeling returned to his stomach.

"Me too." He lied, well half lied. Steve removed his arms from around him, allowing Bucky to sit up. He stood up and stretched, and Steve did the same, Bucky glanced down and remembered he was wearing his Captain America pants. Which Steve also noticed when he heard the words.

"Really Buck? You bought those?" He knew that he didn't _really_ mind, after all, he got to stare at his wonderful ass. The ass that was all his to stare at. They both got dressed, the pair wearing awful christmas jumpers which they both adored. Between the two of them they managed to completely incinerate pancakes, setting off the smoke alarm more than once. So cereal it was for them. It was their first Christmas together in over sixty years, so naturally they wanted to make it special. So all of The Avengers were invited, and with Pepper being there they had enough food to feed two Thors. They all sat in the large living room, despite their large dining room, it just wasn't large enough for likes of Bruce, Thor, and Tony's ego. Despite The Avengers once again being assembled, there was no worry of danger or fighting. Only perhaps over the Christmas crackers. 

-

The festivity continued for hours, with Steve and Bucky being noticeably inseparable, which gained them several remarks from everyone. Eventually everyone began to pile out after being sufficiently filled with food and wine, and several moans at Thor for smashing more than one plate.  
The last person to leave was Natasha, she smiled and winked at the pair of them, both clueless as to what that truly meant. Natasha knew exactly what it meant, they were going to exchange presents. "I've felt so nervous all day," Steve admitted. "I just wanna give you the present, but at the same time I don't," He laughed nervously.

"You know that's exactly how I feel." Bucky replied, feeling less ill after hearing of Steve's unease. "How about we just give each other the presents and open them at the same time?" He asked, his hands beginning to shake.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Steve swallowed. They both parted to get their gifts and returned soon to the same spot. Bucky's hands shook violently as he passed the bag to Steve, and Steve passed an identical bag back. Bucky's eyebrows knotted with confusion, but he went ahead and opened the silver bag anyway. Inside was a small, blue velvet box. He gently placed the bag down and opened the hinged box. 

A silver band glinted inside. He looked up at Steve with shocked eyes, to be greeted with the same expression.

"Huh?" They chorused. "Natasha told me-" They cut off.

"Natasha." Bucky huffed, shaking his head and laughing. "She is too smart for her own good."

"She set us up, damn she is clever." Steve added. "So... are we... married now?" He asked cautiously. 

"You can't have me that easily, we've only known each other seventy years and you're already proposing?" He laughed, Steve laughed too, taking the rings out of their boxes and putting them on their fingers. "Well, I'm in if you are." He shrugged.

"Yeah, I think I am." Steve smiled, taking a step towards him, cupping his jaw and gently kissing him. Bucky slid his arms around his waist, and they stayed like that for some time. 

Maybe the did know they loved each other secretly, but there was a _lot_ more they had to say. Now they had all the time in the world to say every word they ever wanted to. They had years of loving ahead of them.


End file.
